LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Nameless), A New Local Hard Rock Band, And Tarnished Updates!!

For today's SMS post, we're heading to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P. to cover some recent updates from across the river, including big lineup news from a prominent hard rock band, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next week, and leading off, a new local band with a few familiar faces, so here's what you should know on this Tuesday night

We have a new local hard rock bands to add to our Sault Michigan band links, that being Unfortunate Sun! Described on their Facebook page as "the EUPs newest high energy rock band", and presumably playing off of the C.C.R. song with the name, they are effectively the successors to the now-defunct Fake Chow, and have already signalled more of a hard rock base in their sound than Fake Chow ever did. Lead singer Skip Parish, guitarist Jody Sandhagen, and Project 906 drummer Jason VanLuven are now joined by ex-Shift bassist Tony Rogers (yes, he was Slappy from Clownsack) in place of Jeffrey Barr. Unfortunate Sun debuted via an outdoor gig at Huck's Pub & Grill in nearby Rudyard on July 27th during the town's Summerfest weekend, and they have yet to announce further concerts of any kind. Two videos have been shared on their Facebook page from that night, where they covered Tommy Tutone's "867-5309 (Jenny)" and, as embedded below, Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train".

Also, Exit 808 singer Dillion Semasky reportedly joined them on stage to cover Seether's "Remedy", but there are no other setlist hints so far. Unfortunately, both videos are short and vertical (despite the Tommy Tutone cover being shot horizontally, so it's sideways), and we see more of attendees than the band for the Ozzy cover, but what I've seen points to a technically sound melodic hard rock cover band, and it'll be interesting to see what Unfortunate Sun have planned for the rest of the year! Check them out for yourselves above & below!

Next up, a rare multi-band local concert will hit Pickles Bar & Grill in nearby Brimley on Saturday, August 17th! This event is brought to us by promoter Brighton LeBlanc of Serious Business, who put on the multi-band concert at The Satisfied Frog last November featuring a Karstens reunion and four touring bands from around the state, but no bands in common are playing next week. The headliner here is R. Solomon, an electronica musician from Detroit, which may seem out of left field, but the show at The Satisfied Frog last year had a similar genre variance in the lineup. Two known local bands will be opening, namely hard rock quintet The Nameless and young local punk trio The Sole Aggressors (the winners of last year's fan-voted LSSU Battle of the Bands). We haven't heard much from them this year, but according to their Facebook page, they've parted ways with singer Henry Boucher, who wasn't at the battle of the bands anyway.

A reason for Henry's departure wasn't announced, but hopefully all's well with him in any event! The band also played a public concert outside of the Bayliss Public Library in the Soo on May 7th, which I profusely apologize for missing on here, but hopefully it was a hit, and the setlist for that show can be seen on their Facbeook page! The fourth act next week is "Sean & Diego", who I know nothing concrete on beyond the poster. This show has a 9:00 PM start time, 18+ age limit (not 21+), and a $10 cover charge. Visit the above links for more on all of the action in Brimley next weekend, and thankfully I'm able to cover this one in a much timelier fashion!

Also today, we have some big news from local hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished, who have surprisingly parted ways with bassist Parker Talentino. In a post on their Facebook page yesterday, the band noted that "it was a difficult decision" and that "we felt it was best for the project moving forward". While they didn't go onto specifics otherwise, Alex & Josh are still on amicable terms with Parker, and they wished him well in his future plans, including his active solo project. Parker had replaced Isaac Royer on bass in Tarnished last fall, while also handling rhythm guitar when Chris Leask was guesting with them, and he last played with Tarnished at the Sault Kewadin this past weekend. While Parker is a talented multi-instrumentalist who seemed to fit well with Tarnished, I always got the sense that his folksier acoustic solo output was truer to what he likes musically. He has a bright future ahead regardless!

Regarding Tarnished's lineup vacancies, the band revealed that Rhythm & Brews/ex-Highway 63 bandmates Chris Leask & Ron Suchey will be playing bass & drums "for all of our current upcoming shows" (they have frequently guested with Tarnished at regional dates since May, including this past weekend). The band's statement is somewhat ambiguous, as it could be interpreted as Chris & Ron filling in for currently booked gigs only, but we'll let you know if Tarnished say that they have 100% joined the band or not (keep in mind that Tarnished's recent downstate gigs were as a trio, with Alex primarily drumming while singing). Also note that Rhythm & Brews are still active, last playing live in June, but they do not play live with Tarnished's frequency. At present, Tarnished are booked for road trips to Grand Marais on Thursday and in Rose City later this month, before coming home to rock The Rapids Lounge in late September.

Chris & Ron are talented local rock veterans who should bolster things for at least the next two months! Lastly, two new videos of Tarnished this past weekend were posted by Audrey Marshall (a frequent filmer of Sault Ontario concert videos) as comments on the band's Facebook page post on Friday, and are thusly unembeddable here. They include a (vertical) video of them covering Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" and a shorter (but horizontal!) video of their cover of ZZ Top's "Tush". Both feature Alex just singing, while an unidentified female bassist guested on the Neil Young cover. Solid while they last, so check them out on Facebook, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!